Third child shot in a week, Police worry about gun accessibility

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ST. LOUIS, MO (KTVI) - Shooting victims in the city of St. Louis city are getting younger and younger. Over the past week, three children under the age of 13 were shot in separate shootings. Interim St. Louis Metropolitan Police Chief Larry O'Toole says these shootings point to a number of issues ,one of them being the access and availability to firearms either for these children or their families.

The latest shooting happened late Saturday in the Walnut Grove East neighborhood. Police say it happened near Beacon and West Florissant, but they were made aware of the shooting when a five year old arrived at a hospital with a gunshot wound to their chest. The circumstances surrounding that shooting are still unknown, but it follows two shootings earlier in the week where a 12-year old was also shot in the chest in north St. Louis and, prior to that, an 8-year old was shot in the stomach near Natural Bridge and Kingshighway.